Work manipulating mechanism



1952 N. B. SMITH WORK MANIPULATING MECHANISM 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Original Filed Aug. 8, 1941 NEvm B. SMITH Jan. 1, 1952 N, B, s n-H 2,580,472

WORK MANIPULATING uEcHAu IsM Original Filed Aug. 8, 1941 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 'Navm B. SMITH 5 MM? W Patented Jan. 1, 1952 2,580,472 on MANIPULAIING MECHANISM Nevin B Smith, Hamburg, Pa., assignor to Landis Machine Company, Waynesboro, Pa,, a corpora;

tion of a Pennsylvania Originalapplication August 8. 1941, Serial No.

" 406,049, now Patent N0. 2 .360.906, dated October, Dividedand this application, October 21,1944, Serial No. 559,799

6 aims 214-1) This invention relates to work manipulating mechanism, the subject matter application constituting a division of my pends a p i n r at t mma M tal Working Machine, Serial No, 4Q6, 049, filed Au;- t 8, 1941, now P ten o- 2 369 0 ct b r 24, 1944.

While the invention to be. presently described is, of more or less general application in the in; dustrial arts for the Durposof manipulating a rk p ein h Pr esso ma uf ctur in the finished article, it isv particularly designed for the purpose of reversibly positioning nipples and like articles to be threaded or otherwise operated upon with relation to spaced threading or Work-performing machines, as fullydescribed in my pending application. 0

It is accordingly an important object of the invention in one embodiment thereof to' pro: vide an efficiently. functioning mechanism of this kind, operable in timed relation with the opera: tion of the work-performing machine, for trans:

ferring a work piece from a work support after one end thereof has been operated on by one machine to a work support associated with the other machine, and, duringsuch transfer, to re! verse the Work piece end for end, so that its other end will then be in a position for operation there: on by the latter machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide, a work manipulating mechanism embodying workcarrying means movable in angularly related paths together with a power drivenshait and "a support for the work carrying means connected to said shaft and movable the by with the work carrying means in one of said paths, end means directly responsive to movement of the work carrying means in saidone path to, simultav neously move said work carrying means through the other of said Paths It is a further object of the invention to pro:

vide a support for the work carrier together with means for imparting rotative movement to the work carrier with and relative to. the supportsi: m tenequs v in h of t aa i erlrrela ed paths. a

4 further object of my invention resides in the provision of means'for controlling the, rotative movement of the work carrier relative to the sup:

port in timed relation to the unitary rotatite movement of the work carrier with the support S i n e o ec r m ma t an. is m Preid a i gle Po drive hai o w ich workcarrier supportis rigidlyliliked and ne elv c ntr le PS ,E QQQSE {9 1} l'Q,

of the present and carrier with the power driven shaft, together with means ifor releasably holding or restraining. the work carriertagainst rotation on the support when said carrier-rotating means is functionally inactive.

Itis also the general aim and purpose of my present invention to provide a work manipulating mechanism as above characterized in which a minimum number of mechanical parts of simple and rugged, structural form are employed and assembled in a compact organization for highly efiicient and, reliable. functional operation.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention comprises the, improved work manipulating mechanism, as well as the construction and relative arrangement of its several cooperating parts-as will hereinafter be more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawingsiand subsequently incorporated in the sub,-

joined claims.

In the drawings wherein I have shown one simple. and practical embodiment of the invention, and inwhich similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the SBV? eral views.

Figure 1- is a transverse section across the machine frame, illustrating one embodiment of the present invention in side elevation, and showing,

or transfer device in angularly. related paths but in whichthe carrier is restrained against rotative movement in one of said paths;

Figure 3 is a similar fragmentary sectional view with the, mechanism for rotating the work carrier on its support actively functioning and the said restraining means having been released;

Figure 4 is a detail face view showing the as: sembledrelation of certain of the parts;

Figure 53s a' detail view ofthe cooperating parts for holding or restraining the work carrier against rotation emove to its support,

Figure 6 is a fragmentary-sectional view taken substantially on the line 61-;6 of Figure 5.

ure 7 is adetail side elevation of one of the parts shown'in Figure 5,

Referring in greater detail to the drawings, tor the po f his new I ha sho W5 no -idlw rt m nna, 'mehanism W ported upon a transverse beam II! suitably fixed at its opposite ends to the side rails II of a machine frame. The beam I9 is integrally formed with suitable bearing means I4 in which the tubular shaft I6 surrounding the power driven shaft I8 is journalled. Upon the tubular shaft 16 a control drum partially illustrated at I8 is keved or otherwise suitably fixed as shown at 20. The shaft I8 at one of its ends has a driving connection with the drum I9 and said drum is provided with cam means controlling the alternate reciprocation of work feeding carriages, as will be more fully understood from reference to my pending application above identified. Since such mechanism constitutes no essential part of the present invention, it is not further illustrated or described herein.

The bearing I4 is formed with an upwardly extending pedestal 24 provided at its upper end with bearing means 26 in which the shaft 28 is journalled at one of its ends, said shaft having the spur gear 38 su tably fixed thereto at one side of the bearing 26 and being restrained against axial movement by the collar 32 fixed to said shaft at the opposite side of the hearing. The pinion 3!! is in con tant mesh with the teeth of a gear segment 84 iournalled upon a stud bolt 36 fixed in the arm -38 formed on one side of the pedestal 24. This segmental gear carri s a roller 48 engaged in the cam track or groove 4 formed in the end wall of the control drum I 9. The ratio of th s gearin is such that gear segment 34 when operat d by the control drum I9 osc llates the shaft 28 through somewhat more than 180, for the purpose to be presentl explained.

In laterallv spaced relat on from the pede tal 24. a sleeve 42 is supported in coaxial r lation with the shaft 28 in a fixed part 44 of the ma chine frame, said sleeve being securely held a a nst rotation in the frame part by means of the pin or kev 46. The inner end of said sleeve is integrally formed with a bevel, ar segment 48, t e teeth of said gear extending through slightly more than 90, as will be seen from reference to Figure 4 of the drawings. The sleeve 42 has a bearing bushing 50 in which the reduced end portion 52 of a shaft 54 is rotatablv supported, saidshaft eing restrained a ainst axial movement in one direction bv the collar 56 suit abl fixed in the end of said shaft.

The shaft 54 at the inner end of the portion 52 thereof has an opening 58 extending diametrically therethrough. A work carrier supporting rod or shaft 60 has a port on fitted in the openin 58, said sup orting rod being formed with a collar or flange 62 in abutting contact with shaft 54 at one end of said opening. At the opposite side of the shaft 54, the end of the supporting rod or shaft is of reduced diameter, as at 84, and extends through a bushing 66 disposed through an opening in one side of a housin member 68 having abutting contact with the frame part 44 and rotatable as a unit with the shaft 54. The nut 69 threaded upon the end portion 64 of the shaft 50 forces the bushing inwardly into abutting contact with the shaft 54 and together with the collar 62 rigidly secures the rod or shaft 60 in connected relation with the shaft 54 for unitary rotation therewith. If desired, the part of the rod 613 extending through the opening 58 may be of rectangular form in cross-section to further prevent any relative r0.- tation-between said rod and the shaft 54.:

Ifhe other end portion of the shaft 54 is of 1 tubular form and receives the reduced and por tion 70 of the shaft 28, said shaft extending loo ely through the elongated nut I2 threaded in the end of the tubular shaft section. Within said shaft section, a sleeve I4 is keyed to the reduced end III of the shaft 28, as at I6, for rotative movement with and for longitudinal movement with respect to said shaft. A coil spring 18 interposed between one end of said sleeve and the nut I2 urges said sleeve in one direction to nor mally hold the notches formed in one end of said sleeve in locking engagement with the transverse pin 82 afiixed at its ends in the wall of the tubular section of the shaft 54. Thus, under normal operation condition, the shafts 23 and 54 are connected to rotate as a unit but upon overload or excessive resistance to such unitary rotation, the pin 82 has a camming action upon the edges of the notches 80 thus forcing the sleeve I4 inwardly against the resistance of spring i8 whereby the shaft 54 is disconnected from shaft 28, thus permitting of the relative rotation of said shafts. I

Upon the supporting rod 60 the sleeve 84 is rotatably mounted, said sleeve at one of its ends being formed with a bevel gear 36 in abutting contact with the collar or flange 62 of said rod. This gear is adapted for meshing contact with the teeth of the segmental gear 48 on the sleeve 42. The rod 60 extends beyond the other end of the sleeve 84 and is threaded to receive the nut 88 holding said sleeve against axial move ment on the rod. This end of the sleeve has'af fixed thereto one jaw member 96 of the work carried or transfer device, the other jaw member 92 thereof being pivoted intermediate of its ends. as at 94, at one side of sleeve 84 and extending therefrom to the opposite side of the sleeve where it is pivotally connected as at 98 to one end of a fluid pressure receiving cylinder 96. A piston H39: in this cylinder has a rod I02 pivotally connected at its upper end, as at N14, to the fixed jaw mem ber 90. The spring I06, interposed between the upper end of said cylinder and the piston normally urges this cylinder upwardly and yield ingly holds the jaw members 98 and 92 in open position; High pressure fluid is supplied to the lower end of the cylinder 96 through the flexible tubing I08 which is suitably connected with a control valve indicated at IIB actuated by cam member II2 on the tubular shaft I6 in properly timed relation with the operation of the work:

transfer mechanism. -I alsoprovide automatically operating means for holding or restraining the sleeve s4 and the work gripping or carrying means mounted there on against rotation relative to the supporting rod v 60 when the gear element 86 on said sleeve moves out of meshed relation with the teeth of theflxed segmental gear 48. As herein shown, this re:

straining means comprises a collar I I4 positioned between the back face of the gear element 48 and the opposing face of the fixed frame part 44 of the machine. 7 This collar is pinned or keyed to the sleeve 42, .as shown at H6, and thus secured in fixed relation to the gear 48'. At its outer edge,

thecollar H4 is formed with the laterally pro jecting flange I I8, said flange being interrupted.

or cut away as shown at I20 throughout the'cir-- cumferential portion thereof opposed. to and I slightly exceeding the extent of the teeth on gear."

l Upon the sleeve 84, adjacent the gear and within an opening in one side of thehousin'g say" a cooperating collar 7 I22 is keyed or otherwise fees s an e a a 1 to otate as a unit the gear efi. is disengaged from the teeth of the segmental'gear 48, said sleeve and the work car rier will be locked or restrained against rotatise movement upon the supporting rod 88 Referring now to Figure 1 of the drawings, the

work'receiving and supporting stations are substantially equidistantly spaced from opposite sides of a vertical plane which includes the axis of the shaft 28. As herein shown, one of these work supports comprises a horizontal bar I28 having a concave upperseating surface for the" work piece, while the other of said supports comprises two spaced cylindrical rods I30. However, it-wil'l be understood that these work supports may be of various other structural forms.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that upon rotation of the control drum I 9, by reason of the predetermined form of the cam track 4 I, oscillatory rotation will be transmitted to shaft 28 by gears 34 and 39 through an arc of slightly more than 180. However, insofar as the essential features of the present inventionare concerned, various other means may be employed for transmitting oscillatory rotation to theshaft 28 from the power driven shaft I 8. Assuming that a work piece, indicated at W on the work support I28; has been gripped and held between the jaws 89 and 92 of the work carrier, during the initial portion of the bodily rotative movement of the support 63 and the work carrier with the shaft 54, the camfacfe I 26 of collar I22 is in engagement with the edge face of the flange I I8 on the collar I I4 as shownin Figure 2, so that the sleeve 86 and the work carrier are held against rotative movement about the axis of the support from the position shown in Figure 1. In the continued movement of the work carrier and its support in the direction indicated by the arrow, the gear 86 on the inner end of sleeve 84 is brought into mesh with the teeth of segmental gear 48 while the collar I22 moves out of frictional contact with, flange H8 and into the recess orcutaway portion I28 of said flange, thus permitting of the rotation of the sleeve 84 and the work carrier aboutthe axis of the support 66. The work carrier is thereby rotated in a path at right angles to the path of movement of said carrier with the support .This functionally coacting relation of the gear elements 48 and '86 is shown in Figure 3 of the drawings and continues until the work carrier has been rotated on the support 60 through approximately 180, at which time the work piece W will be completely reversed from the position which it formerly occupied on the support I28. The work 'piece is thus positioned in contact upon the support I39 substantially at the end of the clock-wise oscillation of shaft 28 and support 50 and while the gear 86 and 48 remain in engagement. Valve I Ii) is then actuated to release pressure fluid from cylinder 96, so that spring I05 acts to release the jaws 90 and 82 of the work carrier from gripping contact with the work piece. The oscillatory rotation of the shaft 28 is then reversed and the work carrier returned to its former position to receive another work piece from the support I28. In the initial move ment of the work carrier in the counter-clockwise direction it is rotated by gears 48 and 6D to the position seen in Figure 1. Thereafter cam surface, I26 on collar I22: engages; flange I I 8 as above described. to: hold-said carrier against rotation onthe support so that at the end of movement'of said support the work gripping jaws will be properly positioned to engage the work piece on support I28. It will thus be seen that the movement of the work carrier through angularly related paths in properly timed relation is precisely and accurately controlled through the medium of a single power operated oscillating shaft; I

I have referred to aparticular type of work carrier or transfer device and operating means therefor to hold and release the work piece, which has been found particularly desirable for use in connection with the machine disclosed in my pending-application above identified. However, the mechanism'herein disclosed may obviously also be advantageously employed for the operation and control of work carriers or transfer devices of variousother structural forms, in the manner above-described, as may be found most desirable foruse in connection with the particular process of manufacture performed by the machineto which my improved work manipulating or transfer mechanism is applied.

From the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings, it will be appreciated that I haveprovided a very simple mechanism for transferring and accurately manipulating a work piece between' spaced work receiving stations. The operating and control unit for the support 50 and the work carrier mounted thereon, as shown in Figures'z and 3' of the drawings, comprises a verycompact organizationof cooperativelyassociated mechanical parts which will function in a positive and reliable manner to precisely 'controland limit the degree or extent of movement of the work carrier and work piece through angularlyrel'ated paths. The provision of means whereby this compound rotative movement of the work carrieris effected in response to the oscillatory motion of the single power opera'ted shaft 54 greatly simplifies the construction of suchtransfer mechanisms as heretofore employed in theart. By the elimination of separate racks and actuating cams for moving the work carrier in the individual angularly related pathsj.'I have efiec ted a very material reduction in'the production costs of such transfer mechanismsgin addition to obtaining greater accuracy and emciency in the practical operation thereof.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In work transfer mechanism, a fixed support, a horizontal shaft rotatably journalled in said support, a housing directly supported by and surrounding said shaft at one side of said. fixed support for oscillation about the shaft axis, a work carrier shaft extending radially from said housing and rotatably mounted at one of its ends therein, a supporting member for the work carrier shaft extending diametrically through said housing and horizontal shaft and rigidly fixed thereto, work holding means on the other end of the carrier shaft, a power operated'shaft driv ingly coupled with said horizontal shaft forimparting oscillating motion to said housing and work carrier, 2, gear on said work carrier shaft and a gear segment fixed to said support in mesh with said gear and enclosed within said housing for rotating said work carrier shaft in the oscillating motion thereof. I

2. In work transfer mechanism, a fixed support, a horizontal shaft rotatably journalled in said support, a housing directly supported by and connected with said shaft at one side of said fixed support for oscillation as a unit with the shaft about the axis thereof, a work carrier shaft shaft, responsive to overload on the-work car-,

rier shaft.

3. In work transfer mechanism, a shaft, means journalling said shaft at one end for oscillatory motion about a horizontal axis, work carrying means oscillatable with said shaft including a supporting member extending diametrically through said shaft intermediate of its ends and rigidly fixed thereto, power driven means including a shaft disposed in axially telescoped relation with the other end of the first named shaft, and coupling means between said shafts comprising a spring-biased coupling member rotatable with one of said shafts and coacting with a complementary coupling member fixed to the other shaft and operative upon overload on the work carrier to release the driving connection between said shafts.

4. In work transfer mechanism, a shaft, means journalling said shaft at one end for oscillatory motion about a horizontal axis, work carrying means oscillatable with said shaft including a supporting member extending diametrically through said shaft intermediate of its ends and rigidly fixed thereto, a work carrier sleeve mounted to rotate on said supporting member and having a gear at one end thereof, a gear segment in fixed coaxial relation to the journalled end of said shaft coacting with said gear to impart rotating movement to the work carrier sleeve on said support during a-predetermined portion of its oscillatory motion in each direction, and .power driven operating means for said shaft operatively connected with the other end thereof.

5. In work transfer mechanism, a shaft, means journalling said shaft at one end for oscillatory motion about a horizontal axis, work carrying means oscillatable with said shaft including a. supporting member extending diametrically through said shaft intermediate of its ends and rigidly fixed thereto, a work carrier sleeve mounted to rotate on said supporting member and having a gear at one end thereof, a gear segment in fixed coaxial relation to the journalled end of said shaft coacting with said gear to impart rotating movement to the work carrier sleeve on said support during a predetermined portion of its oscillatory motion in each direction, power driven operating means for said shaft operatively connected with the other end thereof, and a housing structure enclosing the intersecting parts of the shaft and supporting member and said gearing and rigidly connected to said supporting member.

6. In work transfer mechanism, a fixed support, a shaft journalled at one end in said support, a housing abutting one side of said support and having bearing means for said shaft spaced from said support, a work carrier assembly including a member extending diametrically through said shaft between said bearing means and fixed support and means securing said member in rigidly fixed relation to said shaft and housing, a work holder rotatably mounted on said member, means for oscillating said shaft, housing and work carrier assembly about the axis of said shaft, and means for rotating the work holder relative to said member during a definitely limited portion of the oscillating traverse of said assembly.

NEVIN B. SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,786,608 Halstead Dec. 30, 1930 1,811,832 Mayers June 23, 1931 1,947,610 McNamara Feb. 20, 1934 2,048,331 Geist July 21, 1936 2,061,085 Price Nov. 17, 1936 2,224,975 McNamara Dec. 17, 1940 2,334,174 Clausen Nov. 16, 1943 2,415,997 Eldred Feb. 18, 1947 

